by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu (Click on image for a larger version.) This image seems to have been a fairly recent acquisition for us: Phil’s predecessor got it on eBay, where it was described as a “patient’s room” at Dr. Kenney’s Sanitarium in San Antonio, from around 1920. It’s obviously not a patient’s, room, […]
Pneumothorax apparatus
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant mcgovern@exch.library.tmc.edu We got a visitor on Monday who brought us a new gadget. Meet the pneumothorax apparatus: (double-click on image for a larger version) This machine, which is a little over a foot tall and has a cylinder about six inches in diameter, was used to induce artificial pneumothoraces […]
Sunset Hospital
by Alethea Drexler, archives assistant One of the things that I find persistently frustrating is the speed, ease, and totality with which older hospitals disappear. Many, many, times I’ve received inquiries about such-and-such a hospital and started looking around for information, only to discover that, not only do we not have any material about it […]
Spoonful of sugar, stat!
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant We received an inquiry a few weeks ago that involved a question about nineteenth century medications, and it turned into a rather interesting fact-search. While I have it on my mind, I thought we could take a look at one of our antique medicine cases. We have several doctors’ bags […]
Steam sterilizer
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant We’re back! I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving weekend. This week’s post features our vintage Castle steam sterilizer: This one is a small model–the box is about a foot long and seven inches tall–that seems to have been popular for specialty instruments (which would have been used in smaller […]
Thingamajig answer
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant The research center will be closed until Monday for the Thanksgiving holiday, so I’m moving the blog post up a couple of days. Last week’s Thingamajig was an H.G Fischer x-ray power source. A similar one can be seen here at the online Museum of Electrotherapy. The Museum’s model may […]
Thingamajig
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant Hey, it’s the Thingamajig! Remember the Thingamajig? I almost didn’t, either! This edition of Thingamajig features an object that has been hanging out at the McGovern Research Center for a long time but was only recently identified (yes, I will be able to post an answer for you next week). […]
Collection reflects changes in nursing school
By Brenda Gunter, MLIS archives intern Gunter processed the Connie Brady collection as part of her practicum at the McGovern Historical Collections and Research Center. Connie Brady was a nursing student at the Shannon West Texas Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in San Angelo, Texas, from 1960 to 1964. The nursing school in San Angelo […]
Some of our favorite websites
by Alethea Drexler archives assistant I’m sure you’ve noticed that I like to link to other pages in my blog posts. Phil and I have come across some very interesting, and often very fun, websites–usually while trying in vain to uncover the identity of a Thingamajig–and he suggested that we do a post to share […]
Sanborn Viso Cardiette model 51
by Alethea Drexler Archives assistant Phil Montgomery is setting up a display of vintage medical machines today in the main library. I thought I’d share one of them with our blog readers. If you’re in the library, I hope you’ll go see it in person. This is the Sanborn Viso-Cardiette, model 51, a portable (“portable” […]